Unemployment is a major problem that needs to be dealt with as the population grows and education system struggles to keep up with the new demands in the labor market. In 1999 the youth unemployment stood at 18.7, and as elsewhere in the Middle East and North Africa the unemployment in women with higher education was also very high. It was estimated, due to lack of labor force survey since 1999, the number of unemployed people could rise to a million in 2006 that is about 16.5% of labor force.
Lack of skills of the labor force is also one of the main problems cited in Doing Business 2009, for private companies to set up businesses in Yemen.